This is my blog. So far most of the entries are about sports. Please check out my autism site at www.coachmike.net and my photography site at www.mikefrandsen.net. Please also see my sports articles at http://www.examiner.com/sports-in-washington-dc/mike-frandsen and http://bleacherreport.com/users/583899-mike-frandsen, my autism articles at http://www.examiner.com/dc-in-national/mike-frandsen, and www.myredskinsblog.com. By Mike Frandsen.

Archive for the ‘Radio’ Category

For more than a week now the Howard Stern show has been on vacation. That’s fine, but it’s completely bizarre that they have played almost nothing other than the parts of the History of Howard Stern that relate to the movie “Private Parts.” The only other things they have played have been Fred’s argument with his wife and the Jesus Twins’ appearance, and probably a few more. The movie was good, but it’s shameless self-promotion to devote almost an entire week to the Private Parts movie. It just sounds really bad to hype it so much. If we can’t get the show live, at least play Stern on both channels. If you have to play History of Howard Stern, play other things besides “Private Parts.” It’s not like that was the only thing that happened in the history of the show. Howard’s arms must be injured from patting himself so much on the back.

Two all sports radio stations compete in the Washington, D.C. market, a testament to the fact that D.C. is actually a very good sports town, much better than it’s given credit for. As for the quality of the sports talk, let’s just say that it varies. The competitors are ESPN 980 (WTEM), which has been around since 1992, and 106.7 The Fan (WJFK), which began its all-sports format in 2009.

A few of the shows are excellent, with experienced local hosts who provide in-depth analysis and humor in a conversational style. Most of the shows are mediocre, though, providing just enough interest for hard-core sports fans to stay tuned, while some shows don’t give the listeners much choice but to turn the dial.

The reviews below are opinionated and don’t necessarily reflect the majority of sports radio listeners.

Pollin and Czaban have the best sports talk show in D.C. Pollin, the dean of D.C. sports radio, and Czaban have worked together since the mid-1990s, an eternity in radio, and Pollin has served as the sports director of ESPN 980 since its inception as WTEM-AM 570 in 1992.

As longtime D.C. area residents, both Pollin and Czaban grew up as Redskins fans. Pollin’s knowledge of area sports extends to the late 1960s, while Czaban’s goes back to the late 1970s. Each has had no problem criticizing the Redskins during the long suffering period between 1993 and the present. The chemistry between the pair is excellent, with Czaban making the most outlandish statements and Pollin playing the good cop, often reeling Czaban in. Pollin, though, sometimes rides the fence a bit instead of giving a strong opinion.

They possess a rare combination of sports analysis and humor, and Czaban, who at times rankled listeners early in his career, has become more personable as he has mellowed. His “Daily Czabe” is a rundown of humorous, even absurd events in the sports world. Czaban has become possibly the number one host on Washington sports radio, with an equal ability to break down games and spontaneously throw in enough humor that works to keep it light.

Pollin’s historical knowledge of the Redskins goes back to the days of Sonny Jurgensen and Charley Taylor in the 1960s and George Allen’s Over the Hill Gang in the 1970s. Both Pollin and Czaban are football fans first, basketball fans second, and everything else falls after that. This can be a strength in football and basketball-happy Washington, but the weakness of both of them is their middling knowledge of and interest in baseball and hockey.

The “Sports Reporters” has a solid round table of reporters rotating in studio, which gives the show additional credibility. Thom Loverro, Mark Zuckerman, Steve Buckhantz, and Kevin Blackistone are just a few of the local stalwarts who take turns in studio. When Pollin, Czaban, and Loverro talk local sports, all bases are covered and the show goes from great to outstanding.

Czabe can be a bit annoying when he talks about politics or his golf game, and both of them can at times be dismissive of the Capitals, Nationals, and D.C. United, but the duo are just two regular guys, longtime D.C. sports fans to whom listeners can relate.

As the Capitals and Nationals continue to gain in popularity, Pollin and Czaban would be wise to study up even though they’ve already carved a niche in D.C. sports, one that will hopefully remain long-term.

The Sports Junkies have been talking D.C. sports together on the air since the 1990s, and off the air together since growing up in Prince George’s County. Avid fans of the Redskins and Maryland basketball, the Junkies know local sports inside and out between the four of them, and their chemistry as longtime friends shows.

The Junkies came along at the right time, when sports radio became less about analysis and more about rapport, humor, and story telling. But the Junks bring the knowledge, and doing their homework – following sports – is genuinely fun for them.

The show is about more than just sports, though. The Junks talk about women, gambling, and nightlife, though the show can get a little stale when they talk too much about their lives at home.

Lurch briefly played college basketball and J.P. was (very) briefly a professional boxer, and all four of the Junkies relate well to athletes when they interview them, asking questions that many reporters would be afraid to ask, but also making interviews loose and fun.

All of the Junkies laugh at athletes, listeners, and themselves, and they have even introduced new words into the sports lexicon. “Donkeys” are people who act, well, dumb, but the term is usually used in a laugh-at-yourself type way. “Silly” is used similar to the way that many people use “sick,” to describe an unbelievable play. A “show” is a game, play, or incident that is pathetically bad.

Like the Sports Reporters, the Junkies have equal parts enthusiasm and criticism for the Redskins, with a gallows humor about Washington’s favorite team, and a true passion for basketball as well. Bishop brings some baseball knowledge, but like many of the local sports talk hosts, they aren’t particularly strong on the Caps. Still, being football and basketball fans first works in Washington.

The Sports Junkies are having a good time, and they make each other and the listeners laugh.

Sheehan and Loverro anchor the midday slot on ESPN 980. Sheehan rose through the ranks to become a very solid D.C. sports radio host. Loverro, a former columnist for the Washington Times who currently writes for the Washington Examiner, is a longtime observer of the D.C. sports scene and has written books about the Redskins, boxing, and baseball. Loverro was part of a star-studded group of writers from the last 20 years who wrote for the now defunct Times sports page.

Everybody in Washington is an expert on the Redskins, but Loverro knows his baseball, a sorely needed skill among D.C. area broadcasters, and also has more expertise about boxing than anyone on local radio. He brings the attention to detail of a writer, and is surprisingly smooth on the air, injecting a good dose of humor along with historical perspective.

Sheehan has almost encyclopedic knowledge of D.C. sports. He clearly is a local fan and has an enthusiasm for D.C. teams. He over enunciates his words, a minor quirk, and he has been called “Sheenahan” for his defense of the Redskins’ coach. But his somewhat greater defense of Dan Snyder and the Redskins than most can probably be attributed to a long-standing fandom of the Skins and a hope that things are starting to turn around. Plus, he does a mean weather forecast.

Sheehan works hard and keeps up with local sports, which makes sense as he has worked his way up and is not a star. The pairing with the elder Loverro works well, as the sports writer brings decades of experience of covering Washington sports and has a memory bank that goes back further than most. The pair makes more sense than just about any other radio duo.

However, it should be noted that Sheehan and Loverro do only a two-hour show, which makes it easier to cover just the most important and interesting sports topics.

▪ Policy and Technical Writing/Behavioral Health Specialist with more than 20 years of experience in strategic writing, analysis/research, technical editing, and developing/implementing various projects.

▪ Highly motivated and organized with exceptional written and oral communication skills, including translating technical information into plain language.

▪ Thrives in fast-paced, deadline-driven environment, and teams well with diverse groups to achieve quality results on schedule.

▪ Extensive experience in public health working with and volunteering for people who have developmental, intellectual, physical, and psychiatric disabilities.

EXPERIENCE:

Independent Service Provider, Bethesda, MD, 12/06 – Present.Provide one-to-one services for children with autism spectrum disorders using elements of both Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) and the Developmental Individual-Difference Relationship-Based (DIR) Model. Services include academic tutoring, coaching on social skills and understanding emotions, facilitating participation in sports and other recreational activities, teaching life skills, and supervising play dates. Collected data on the progress of children meeting xs and milestones and wrote status updates and progress reports for parents that included recommendations. Visit www.coachmike.net for more information.

Employment Advocate, 12/03 – Present. Advocated for people with disabilities to gain employment with federal government through the special hiring authority known as the Schedule A program. Investigated, wrote, and published special report describing the government’s lack of usage of this program at http://www.coachmike.net/special_report.php.

Employment Coach, Ivymount School, Rockville, MD, 1/07 – 6/07. Monitored and supervised post high-school special education students age 18-21 at job sites in community based program. Implemented career/employment related Individual Education Plan (IEP) and Transition goals as specified in student’s IEP. Worked as Assistant Teacher while in class.

Independent Visitation Supervisor, Potomac, MD,11/06 – 4/07. Supervised non-custodial parent of four children at her residence during weekend visits. Work for children’s best interests, providing activities and ensuring children are free from unnecessary stress.

Intensive Individual Support Services Therapist, Children Achieving Maximum Potential, Inc., Silver Spring, MD, 1/05 – Present. Provided one-on-one support to autistic child, using elements of both ABA and the DIR Model. Supported social, emotional, creative, and intellectual development of child. This included helping child reduce inappropriate behavior, teaching child to communicate in an appropriate manner, and assisting the child in fostering greater independence and socially responsible behavior. Worked with child to understand emotions and improve social skills. Coached child in first activities with non-autistic children: soccer practices and games in a regular league, providing one-on-one coaching. Also supervised play dates with autistic boy and typically developing children.

Independent Contractor, Seeking Equality, Empowerment, and Community (SEEC), Silver Spring, MD, 2008, 2010; Target Educational Services, 2007-2009. Worked with adults with autism to involve them in social activities in community and provide educational services.

Sensory-Motor Specialist, the Shire School, Falls Church, VA, 2009. Develop and implement sensory-motor program for private school for students with autism.

Developed documents that supported enterprise-wide security initiatives and risk management strategies that enhanced the NIH IT security program, complied with federal regulations, and supported the NIH mission through a defense-in-depth posture. Researched federal IT security regulations and technology trends and recommended security solutions to senior management to minimize risks. Also worked on certification and accreditation (C&A) oversight for National Database on Autism Research. Volunteered one day per week at NIMH, writing a draft newsletter on NIMH’s autism research program. Edited documents on clinical trials regarding autism.

Developed NIH-wide policies, procedures, and practices including NIH Remote Access Policy, NIH Remote Access Security Standards and Procedures, NIH Web Server Policy, NIH Vulnerability Scanning Policy, NIH Firewall Policy, and NIH Password Policy. Developed flowcharts to describe procedures. Developed NIH Network Interconnection Security Agreement for commercial and federal non-NIH organizations connected to NIHnet. Two HHS Operating Divisions, four commercial organizations, and one non-HHS federal agency agreed to signed this ISA, and three additional organizations terminated their network connections to NIHnet as a result of the ISA, eliminating unnecessary, government-maintained connections and saving costs to NIH.

Collected, developed, and prepared documentation for HHS Office of Inspector General Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) audits of NIH IT Security Program. Developed answers to OMB FISMA questions for NIH and responded to HHS OIG findings. Supported NIH implementation of HHS Security Program Team initiatives, developed NIH responses to HHS data calls, and provided NIH comments to department-wide documents such as the HHS IT Strategic Plan. Collected and reported quarterly data to HHS for Reliability of NIH Critical Infrastructure Services. Developed documents relating to requirements of Presidential Decision Directive 63, Critical Infrastructure Protection. Developed Draft HHS Managed Security Services Statement of Work.

Assisted in development of NIH IT Security Consolidation Plan and NIH Enterprise Master IT Security Plan. Revised Security Plan deliverables for NIH Network and Clinical Center projects. Developed initial NIH Incident Response Team Plan and incident handling procedures. Analyzed and distributed intrusion detection alerts and wrote security advisories. Prepared security presentations and briefings for use by NIH CIO, Deputy CIO, and Chief Information Security Officer. Developed awareness documents for NIH IT security web site including FAQs and CIT Security Handbook. Provided guidance and oversight to Institute and Center (IC) security personnel regarding contractor proposals, interconnection agreements, and C&A of systems.

Performed human resources duties including writing position descriptions, identifying Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) and developing job questions for new positions and promotions.

Part-Time Writer, Mizell and Co., International Security, Bethesda, MD, 2002 – 2003. Wrote summaries of open source operational and political incidents involving terrorism, crime, espionage, and safety obtained from the media and other unclassified sources.

Budget and Personnel Coordinator, School of Communication, American University, Washington, DC, 9/96 – 2/98. Monitored and assisted in preparing budgets and expenditures for SOC; procured items accordingly and reviewed ledgers for accuracy. Oversaw preparation of personnel documents, purchase requisitions, disbursement requests, travel forms and other documents. Served as liaison with the Controller’s Office, Human Resources, Payroll, Purchasing, Physical Plant, Public Safety, Support Services, Telecommunications and other university departments; resolved problems with those units as well as with outside vendors and suppliers. Supervised staff of four.

Reporter/Producer, Metro Traffic Control, Bethesda, MD, 1993-95. As mobile reporter, provided traffic updates from van for stations and other traffic reporters. As studio anchor, broadcast midday reports for WMAL and WRC, as well as rush hour reports for network stations. As producer, disseminated information to anchors and airborne reporters. Trained new reporters.

Producer, Sportsradio WTEM, Rockville, MD, 1992-93. Called in live and did reports from Bullets and Caps games. Did overnight sportscasts. Edited tape for sportscasts. Operated board for live shows.

Producer, Mutual Radio, Arlington, VA, 1990-92. Edited tape for NBC and Mutual sportscasts. Produced live Olympic reports from studio. Called in live from Redskins, Bullets, and Caps games. Reports aired nationally. Read scores and stories into Scores Plus, a national 900 sports phone service. Wrote sportscasts. Instructed stringers on content of reports. Trained tape editors.

Completed Special Education graduate course at George Washington University: Family Guidance in Special Education, 12/06.

Participated in Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders annual conferences, 2007-2010.

Attending Georgetown Mini-Medical School, fall 2011.

Test scores: GMAT: 640

GRE Math: 740

Praxis I: Reading: 184 out of 190, Writing: 184 out of 190, Math: 188 out of 190. (The Praxis is one of several requirements for teacher certification).

Certifications: 5 IT Security certifications.

ACTIVITIES / OTHER EXPERIENCE:

Served on Coaches Committee for Kids Enjoy Exercise Now (KEEN): www.keenusa.org, volunteer organization for children and young adults with severe and profound mental and physical disabilities, 1999-2006. Named KEEN 2003 Volunteer of the Year.

Mentioned and pictured in articles on KEEN in Bethesda Gazette and Montgomery Journal.

Volunteered with Special Olympics/TOP Soccer, Montgomery Soccer as a coach for disabled teenagers, 2006-2007. Named Top Soccer Volunteer of the Year for 2007.

Experience volunteering for children and young adults with disabilities including but not limited to:

Attended multiple meetings of The Lonesome Doves (http://www.lonesomedoves.org), a community of autistic people in the Mid-Atlantic States who communicate through Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) systems.

Experience with facilitated communication techniques. Knowledge of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and experience helping people with those illnesses.

Member, Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders.